STORY CONTINUES

U-report has been used now for the third time after the launch of banana bacterial wilt control programme in 2013 and the aim is to involve U-reporters during the process of controlling BBW. The initial poll was sent out in March 2013 to almost 200,000 U-reporters asking if their bananas were infected with BBW. This allowed to visualize the incidence and spread of BBW disease, disseminate description of symptoms as well as infection management options. MAAIF used the results to identify epidemiological centers based on the density of respondents by region in order to launch targeted provision of agriculture extension services in 59 districts.

A follow up poll was sent in October 2013 (6 months after) to find out if efforts had been made by agricultural officials to eradicate BBW and the current third follow up poll question was sent in the same period to solicit responses from U-reporters on whether the situation with controlling BBW has improved or not in their communities.

Follow up poll one (1): “Have you noticed an increase in efforts of government & agricultural officials to eradicate Banana Wilt disease in your sub-county in the last 6 months? YES/NO”

Follow up poll two (2) - Summary:

Poll: “Hello U-reporter! Has the situation with controlling Banana Bacterial Wilt infection improved in your area since March 2013? Please reply with YES/NO & tell how”

This follow poll was sent to 80,846 U-reporters selected from the targeted 59 Districts included in the action plan for implementing the control of BBW infection to get insights into the situation on ground after the launch of BBW control programme in spring of 2013. A total of 8,025 U-reporters responded to the poll question. 40% of U-reporter’s feedback was “YES” implying an improvement in controlling BBW infection, while 42% of U-reporters’ feedback was “NO” implying that there was improvement in controlling the infection in their communities and 18% responses represents other U-reporters views. While the results indicate that an equal number of respondents report both improvement and no improvement in the fight against BBW, the comments by some of the respondents included in the Table are very encouraging.